When it comes to every great anime there are always positives and negatives and the groundbreaking story by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece, is no different. You may not know but many are calling One Piece the manga and anime of the century to many and definitely has the merit to be called this, as it's an epic tale that's delivered over and over again almost flawlessly.
However, even this timeless story has flaws that make it not so timeless. This is the case with each and every classic novel including One Piece. In this list, we'll be looking at a few reasons from both sides of the fence.
10 THE ART (NOT SO TIMELESS)
One Piece is full of ups and downs and one of those downs to many would-be readers and viewers. There have been a myriad of complaints when it comes to One Piece character proportions, samey designs, and very cartoony and childish looks.
These complaints multiplied even more once the timeskip came in and many of the women got even sexier and the proportions got even more exaggerated. It's not a bad complaint and it's not hard to see where these opinions are coming from but there is another side to this argument.
9 THE ART (TIMELESS)
On the other side of this ocean is the fact that the art style is something completely new, refreshing, and original. One Piece really has it's own look and resembles nothing you've ever seen before.
From characters to the amazingly drawn environments, this series always gives you something very pleasing to the eyes. This makes traversing through the manga especially, an amazing experience. That's not even to bring up the amazing character design. The exaggeration in character heights and sizes just makes it an even more enjoyable and new experience.
8 THE LENGTH (NOT SO TIMELESS)
Everyone has heard the complaints of One Piece being much too long before. It's one of the greatest hurdles to getting into the series and it shouldn't be taken lightly. With over 900 chapters of the manga and 900 episodes of the anime, it's a real timesink that not everyone has time for.
Many try to throw this complaint to the side but it's a serious thing stopping people with not as much time on there hands from starting. With so many great pieces of media out there why spend all your free time getting into One Piece?
7 THE LENGTH (TIMELESS)
Once again, on the other side of this sea is the length being amazing for a story of this caliber. One Piece is a story where the tempo starts small and picks up gradually. Looking at each arc and each new area our crew traverses through you can feel the tension and stakes rising.
The length of One Piece is its greatest asset in making this story into a timeless tale because of Oda's brilliance. Each chapter is utilized brilliantly and giant pieces of the story are teased and revealed hundreds of chapters before they actually are important. Once the series is over, if nothing else, this will be one of the greatest things it's remembered for. You don't have to rush, just read at your own pace.
6 SLOW START (NOT SO TIMELESS)
It was stated in the previous reason that One Piece starts very small and that is no exaggeration. Depending on if you enjoy the Water 7, Arlong Park, and Enies Lobby arcs you won't be too enthused to continue reading or watching past the first 50+ episodes. To many, this is one of the most killer hurdles when it comes to getting into One Piece compared to other shonen that start in the awesome action and crazy plot and only ramp up from there. Some viewers and readers need an immediate attention grabber and honestly, that's not a bad thing.
5 THE CHARACTERS (TIMELESS)
One Piece is one of those series where it seems like there is a character for each and everyone interested in joining the adventure. In fact, every member of the main crew has a differing personality and that really makes it feel like Oda created them partly for that purpose. Every reader and viewer has a character that they can latch onto and witness the story with.
Along with the character variety, there is tons of great character growth as each character introduced is a round character. Going through One Piece without liking a single character seems like it would be a close to impossible feat.
4 THE FILLER (NOT SO TIMELESS)
This is a popular down point of the One Piece anime in the opinion of both One Piece lovers and haters alike. The filler, while sometimes good, really throws off the pacing of the anime. Unlike the manga where we go from an exciting arc to another exciting arc, the anime can go from exciting arc to boring and unnecessary filler that could be chopped down to an eight-minute segment.
This is something that the fanmade One Piece Kai project has set out to solve and hopefully get more people to try the series.
3 THE WORLD (TIMELESS)
The world of One Piece is similar to manga that came before it such as Kinnikuman and Baki the Grappler in which the world builds on a base and leaves that base, then comes back to build on that base again. What we mean by that is that Oda will introduce something in chapter three and bring that thing back in chapter 543 and make that thing into a matter of life or death.
Oda is a genius that never forgets and this makes making your way through One Piece even more of a treat, as nothing is a waste of time and no character is forgotten. That man's office must be covered in sticky notes.
2 THE PROGRESSION (NOT SO TIMELESS)
The main focus of One Piece at face value is our main crew making their way to find the legendary treasure One Piece. Well, the crew has had many chances to immediately find the treasure so why haven't they? There is even a popular scene of Luffy getting angry when he could simply be told the treasure's location.
Many viewers that have tried to get into the series have the complaint of the series taking one step forward and then 25 steps back and it's very understandable. Sometimes the series can definitely feel like it's prolonging the inevitable and that's a big turn off for many.
1 THE ADVENTURE (TIMELESS)
One Piece is quite literally the adventure of a lifetime. The story is nearly flawless and there are surprises around every corner. This series will make you laugh, cry, fume, and smile. If you sit down and take the leap into the world of the Straw Hat pirates and get immersed in it all you will truly be in for the ride of a lifetime. Like we stated earlier, enter this series at your own pace and enjoy it. Catch up whenever you do because if you do decide to join in on this adventure you're in for one hell of an enjoyable ride.